Thinking About Piercing Your Child’s Ears? WAIT!

I learned why you should never lie one September saturday when my 7-year daughter played in her first soccer game. She and her sister were worried when the coach sent out an email the night before the game saying, “No jewelry may be worn while playing the game of soccer. If you are thinking of getting our child’s ears pierced in the near future, wait.”

Well too late! We got her ears pierced 4 week prior and were under strict instructions to not take the earrings out for at least 8 weeks. Grace was ready to quit soccer. I was cramming for my first Notre Dame game of the year in a hotel room ½ way across the country. So my husband and I decided to sell her on the idea that clearly it wouldn’t hurt if we took them out for a few minutes, just while she played the game. When my daughter protested I came up with a brilliant solution. I told her I had called Claire’s, the ear piercing professionals, and they too said it was okay. Of course, I didn’t really call Claire’s and it turns out it wasn’t really okay!

By the time the game was over my husband tried to shove the earrings back in, but couldn’t. “uhh oh,” he said when he called me, “what do I do?” “Punch them in a little harder and make sure you sterilize them!” I answered from the football field a few hours before the kick off. He made about 15 attempts before driving her to Claire’s where he found out, as my daughters had warned, it only take a few MINUTES for a recently pierced ear to close! They had to re-pierce them!

“Mom, did you really call Claire’s?” my daughter asked after recovering from the ordeal. “Why would they tell you it was alright?” I had to come clean. “I didn’t call,” I confessed. “I didn’t tell you the truth and that was the wrong thing to do. I’m sorry.” My cheerful, sweet, little girl (now with swollen ear lobes) said, “it’s okay mom, but you really shouldn’t have done that.”

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No matter how good your child is or isn’t at playing sports, according to a survey conducted over 30 years by two coaches and athletic administrators what young athletes want to hear most from their parents after a sporting event is, “I love to watch you play.”